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Ok, so you thought a chicken is a chicken huh? Not quite. Poultry
breeders over the ages have developed many strange breeds.
Among them, are
a few of my favorites below! For more information about chickens and other poultry, go to
The Feathersite. |
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| Silkie |
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| The Silkie is an ancient breed from
China. Marco Polo mentions silkies in his writings.
Silkies are most famous because most of their plumage
remains soft and downy like a baby chick. The silkie is
also known for being extremely friendly and a very good
mother. They will commonly incubate other hen's eggs.
A silkie will also have an extra toe on each of its
feet. Just another odd inherited trait of this breed.
We have two silkies, one is silver, the other is colored
silver splash. The one in the picture is Doc. When you
go in the coop with him he starts crowing and dancing
around, and usually ends up running into a wall or
something due to his excitement. Personally, I think he
is stupid!. We will talk about the genetics of this
trait in Genetics Class! |
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| Serama |
| Serama are reputed to be the world's smallest chicken,
but Old English Game Fowl and Dutch Bantams are frequently smaller.
Seramas are a very new breed that were developed to target the pet
trade. They are typically much smaller than a regular bantam.
In Malaysia, the Serama is the most commonly found household pet,
out-numbering both dogs and cats!
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| Denizli |
| The Denizli is a fowl from Turkey. At first, it
doesn't look all that unusual. If you move your mouse over the
black box to the left, you can see one and you will hear what makes a
Denizli so unusual! This trait is inherited and bred for by
Denizli enthusiasts. We just ordered a dozen hatching eggs of this
bird. They are very rare and difficult to find. We will see
how long they crow! Check out our new Denizli!!
Denizli Page |
| Other Long-crowing Chickens |
Other Long-crowers include the Bergishe Kraeher,
Koeyoshi, Totenko, Tomaru, Yurlower, and Berat. If you run your cursor
over the black box to the left, you can see and hear a Koeyoshi crow!
Also, you can listen to the crow of a
and a
by clicking on their name! The Tomaru also has a second unusual
trait, it grows and incredibly long tail. It is also a member of
another group of unusual chickens, the long-tails. |
| Phoenix |
| The Phoenix is a German breed that grows exceptionally
long tail feathers. This is an inherited trait in which the tail
feathers are not properly moulted, but instead keep growing. There
are several other breeds of long-tails, most of which originate from
various parts of the world, especially the Orient. The Japanese
longtails include the Onagadori, Shokoku, Ohiki, Minohiki, Totenko,
Kurokashiwa, Satsumadori, and the endangered Jitokkokagoshima. The
European Longtails include the Phoenix and Yokahama. There are
also American Longtails and Chines Longtails. To find out more
about longtails and long-crowers you can go to
Longtail Fowl and Longcrowers of
the World. Check out our baby Golden Phoenix!
Golden Phoenix. |
| Button Quail |
| The Button Quail goes by many other names including
Chinese Painted Quail and are a member of the Genus Conturnix.
It is an extremely small bird with hatchlings that are even smaller
(check out photo!). The hatchlings are extremely active and remind
me of a wind up toy on a serious dose of caffeine. Button quail
eggs were considered a delicacy by Chinese emperors. The size of a
marble, you would have to eat an awful lot of 'em to be full!
Today button quail are produced primarily for the pet trade. |
| Pharoah Quail (Coturnix) |
| The Pharoah Quail or Chinese Quail is another species of
quail belonging to the Genus Coturnix. If you have read
about the exodus in the Bible then you are familiar with this bird.
They are the quail that to save the Israelites from starvation! To
this day these quail still live in the middle east . Pharoah Quail
are produce for their eggs and meat. They are also used by hunters
to train hunting dogs and hunting clubs often release them as a
substitute for Bobwhite Quail. These birds and their eggs are also
used in ecotoxicology studies to investigate the impacts of contaminants
on birds and on fetal development. |
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